When the Cloud comes out of the Container

Published: 6 June 2016 - Sarah Mead

In what's claimed to be a first for the IT sector, Rittal and iNNOVO Cloud GmbH have come together to create a new and innovative “turnkey cloud data centre in a container” concept. It was showcased at CeBIT 2016 exhibition in Hannover and aims to show how companies can rapidly establish new cloud-based data centres.

Companies would use the components within the RiMatrix BCC to model a huge range of options to meet their needs, from an on-premises private cloud to virtual private data centres, all using verifiably safe servers, storage and network systems. Server and storage systems can be operated in a way which is both standardised and cost-effective using services from the cloud, provided as “IT as a Service (ITaaS).

Until now, planning and constructing a data centre had been considered as being an entirely bespoke process taking several years for companies to complete.

But with this new joint initiative, Rittal and iNNOVO Cloud GmbH have created an alternative in the RiMatrix BCC that could offer a far faster solution.

Customers would receive a turnkey cloud data centre in ISO or non-ISO container format in which the components such as racks, climate control and power supply would be provided as predefined modules.

However, for the first time, the server, network, and storage woud be included with the delivery already pre-configured. Furthermore, the cloud management software would be provided courtesy of the open source “OpenStack” framework. The result is a standardised and completely virtualised cloud data centre, equally suitable for standard and highly demanding applications, such as high-performance computing (HPC) or “big data” purposes.

“The industrialisation of data centre construction now enables companies to create their own powerful IT infrastructure solutions more quickly and easily than ever before”, says Martin Kipping, Rittal’s Director International IT Projects.

“Time-to-market is a critical factor for companies. Rittal’s container solutions exhibited at CeBIT show how we can address these requirements and help customers with modular IT systems to meet the growing demand for high and scalable computing performance”, Mr Kipping added.

At CeBIT, visitors had the opportunity to walk through the RiMatrix BCC container to get a close-up view of the quality of the product and all its component parts.

This joint enterprise from Rittal and iNNOVO Cloud GmbH has been backed by years of innovation on both sides. Rittal has applied its expertise in IT infrastructure and data centre modules while iNNOVO Cloud GmbH has many years of experience designing and operating cloud platforms.

The focus has been on delivering “IT as a Service” (ITaaS) so that the server, storage, network and applications collectively run in as standardised a way as possible, laying the foundations for a company-specific, bespoke cloud platform.